Figured with 22 days left before Game One its as a good as time as any.

Why an All Things GSU thread?

Because believe it or not it provides a concise one place location for information about our school and program.

Why now?

Because I have been reading a lot of posts (no on here for the most part) regarding GSU around the internet that are more conjecture and hate than actual facts. Granted that most of these have been from fans of other state institutions.

But this is realignment board and your school just started football in 2010. What makes you think you will get to move up in the near future or ever?

This statistic does. Since 1990, of the several former downtown commuter universities that have started football none thus far has or will spend more than 5 years in FCS.

Currently 4000 students in on campus housing for Fall 2011 or about 13 percent. University enrollment is currently growing at about 1500 students per year and will be the largest university in Georgia in 2 years. Forecast is for 50k in 10 years with 20% (10,000) living on campus.

Our undergraduate ratings are improving as more traditional students enroll. In Fall 2010 we had a surge of admissions applications. Presumably football had to do with that. We ended up with 12,000 applications for 3000 freshman admission slots. This year we had 12000 by March for Fall 2011. There is also a very long waiting list for dorm space.

Quote:The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The Georgia Dome was the largest domed structure in the world until 1999, when the London's Millennium Dome was completed.

The stadium is about 4 blocks from campus and is a great facility.
We averaged about 17k for 7 home games in 2010 and had over 30k for our first game. We were #10 in FCS attendance.

(08-11-2011 08:49 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote: Do you guys have any plans for an on campus stadium?

I don't think they could ever fit one. Their campus is basically a bunch of buildings in the center of downtown Atlanta. They don't really have any grounds...or even any grass.

GSU campus...

It will be tough for the program to get off the ground if they can't build an on campus stadium, or even a smaller one they can call their own. The Georgia Dome is just to big, and they have to compete for fans with Georgia Tech in Atlanta. 35k stadium would be nice for them if they average under 20k. They could move up to the Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC easily with that size stadium.

(08-11-2011 08:49 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote: Do you guys have any plans for an on campus stadium? I think C-USA would benefit from having a presence in Georgia. It would provide a nice rival for UCF.

Not at this time. The Dome is 4 blocks from campus. I walked further from my car to Bryant-Denny @ Bama game last year. Plus for college football, the Dome is an awesome place. I was an outdoor purist and now I cant imagine being anywhere else.

(08-11-2011 08:49 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote: Do you guys have any plans for an on campus stadium?

I don't think they could ever fit one. Their campus is basically a bunch of buildings in the center of downtown Atlanta. They don't really have any grounds...or even any grass.

GSU campus...

It will be tough for the program to get off the ground if they can't build an on campus stadium, or even a smaller one they can call their own. The Georgia Dome is just to big, and they have to compete for fans with Georgia Tech in Atlanta. 35k stadium would be nice for them if they average under 20k. They could move up to the Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC easily with that size stadium.

There will not be an on campus stadium. We have a situation similar to what Pitt has. I would be different if for instance the Dome were 40 to 50 years old and crumbling. But its a less than 20 year old stadium. Plus a priority would be to get our athletic fields moved downtown. The picture you posted is of the central campus facing west. Any building we do will be east of campus where we have the new practice facility. The is the most likely location for baseball, softball and track. One of the biggest selling points to season ticket holders is the Dome and the Dome has been gracious about considering us a permanent tenant. To give you an idea. There are two football locker rooms in the Dome. One is painted in Falcons colors and logos. The other is painted in GSU colors and logos. So away Falcons visiting team opponents dress in the GSU locker room and GSU Panther opponents dress in the Falcon locker room. For the Spring Game the booster club members got treated to the Owners Club. Very nice. http://www.gadome.com/booking/spaces/Owners_Club.aspx

12k fans doesnt look good anywhere in FBS. But you have to start somewhere just as those other big city schools did that I listed. Its also one of the reason that FCS is so unsuccessful in large cities. Uncompelling opponents and competition with State U. You put it all together and its not a surprise or coincidence that so many of these schools have spent 5 years or less in FCS.